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Israel denied involvement in the killing of Hezbollah’s terror chief in a car bombing in Damascus.

Imad Mughniveh, the group’s deputy secretary general, was killed in a residential neighborhood late Tuesday night. Hezbollah has blamed Israel for the assassination.

Mughniveh was wanted for his involvement in the bombings of the Israeli embassy and the Jewish community center in Buenos Aires, Argentina. He also was allegedly involved in the kidnapping of Israeli soldiers, and was said to have been responsible for the hijacking of a TWA passenger plane in 1985.

The Israel Prime Minister’s Office initially declined comment on the assassination, later releasing a statement that read, in part, “Israel rejects the attempt by terror groups to attribute to it any involvement in this incident. We have nothing further to add.”

“Mughniyeh was one of the most dangerous and cruel terrorists,” former Mossad head and Knesset member Danny Yatom told the Jerusalem Post. “This is a huge achievement for the war against terror.”

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